British politicians have overwhelmingly rejected Prime Minister Theresa May‘s Brexit agreement, complicating the UK’s departure from the European Union on March 29.
Members of parliament on Tuesday voted 432 to 202 to rebuff the deal, giving May a crushing defeat with a 230-margin.
“The House has spoken, and the government will listen,” May said following the vote, even as she predicted “more uncertainty, more bitterness and more rancor.”
The vote plunges the already divided country deeper into turmoil as it tries to solve several key issues in the Brexit process.
Following the vote, Labour tabled a no-confidence motion in May’s minority government which will be debated on Wednesday.
“She cannot seriously believe that after two years of failure that she’s capable of negotiating a good deal for this country,” Corbyn said.
But May said she still wants to fulfil her duty to deliver on Britain’s 2016 vote for leaving the EU.
If she wins Wednesday’s confidence vote she will meet the leaders of the opposition parties in a “constructive spirit” to discuss the way forward, May said.
“Given the urgent need to make progress, we must focus on ideas that are genuinely negotiable and have sufficient support in this House,” she added.
In her final plea to the parliament, May had said that a vote against the deal “is nothing more than uncertainty, division and the very real risk of ‘No Deal’ or ‘No Brexit’ at all.”
“We can choose unity over division,” May said before the vote. “I believe that we have a duty to deliver on that referendum vote. And to do so in a way that protects people’s jobs, and protects our security, and protects our union.”
Source: Al Jazeera News
